The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Bronze Dragon
by Yugioash
Summary: When I got to keep the control disc for a proto-Talus Automaton as a trophy of war, I never thought I would use it to help repair an automaton dragon. But hey, that's the life of a demigod for you, expect the unexpected or get killed in the process. Especially in a Camp Half-Blood's version of Capture the Flag. Percy's POV


**A/N:** This is the Last of the three part One-shots before 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Olympians: The Last Olympian, and here's the summary of it.

Summary: With the 2nd Titan War reaching it's ending point, what's left of my friends from Camp Half-Blood along with any ally that can break through Kronos' and his god-allies' powers must make a final stand against the titan army at Manhattan while the most of the Olympians either fight Typhoon, or Oceanus, or is locked up in the Underworld. At least we have Hestia.

There will be one One-Shots after the Last Olympian with the Staff of Hermes before I start the Tales of the Heroes of Olympus part of the series

 **Warning:** Certain ancient Greek names matches words use of foul language but no foul language was intentionally used. Also if you haven't read them yet read 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Early Adventures' 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief' 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters' 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Olympians: The Titan's Curse' and 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Olympians: The Magical Labyrinth' before reading this story. Lastly, any one who wants to do a Demigods and Olympian reads story using 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon' is allowed _as long as_ you inform me about it.

* * *

 **The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & The Bronze Dragon**

When I got to keep the control disc for a proto-Talus Automaton as a trophy of war, I never thought I would use it to help repair an automaton dragon. But hey, that's the life of a demigod for you, expect the unexpected or get killed in the process.

The evening it happed actually started like every other evening at Camp Half-Blood, which is saying something considering the Second Titan War has started last summer. It was the end of June and we were either fighting Kronos' army or training to fight them.

After dinner, all the campers were hanging out the dinner pavilion. We were all excited because that evening Capture the Flag was going to be totally vicious.

The night before, Hephaestus' cabin pulled off a huge upset. They'd captured the flag from Ares—with my help, thank you very much—which meant that Ares cabin would be out for blood. Well… they're _always_ out for blood, but this night especially.

On the blue team were Hephaestus' Cabin, Apollo, Hermes and me—the only camper in Poseidon's cabin this summer. My cyclops-brother Tyson would of been here this summer as our dad: Poseidon promised he could every summer, but the underwater war between Dad and the ancient ocean gods that joined Kronos gotten so bad that Tyson had to stay in the forges of the cyclops for his own safety.

The bad news was this night game was one of those rare times Athena and Ares—both war god cabins—were working together, and against us on the red team, along with Aphrodite Dionysus, and Demeter.

Plus, the near death experience from the Battle of the Labyrinth the summer before had really opened some of Aphrodite's kids' eyes to the fact that they better start taking their training a little more serious if they plan to survive this war, and, as it turns out, majority of Aphrodite's kids, like their cabin counsellor Silena Beauregard, can be pretty good in anything—other than anything related to make up and fashion—if they put their minds into it.

Anyways, my main concern was going up against my child hood friend and daughter of Athena: Annabeth Chase. Not because we knew each other since we were seven, but rather because Annabeth is _not_ somebody you want as an enemy.

Right before the game, I was feeding my gigantic hellhound Mrs. O'Leary my scraps while I dressed in my armor when Annabeth strolled up to me in her armor. "Hey, Seaweed Brain."

I rolled my eyes. She gave me that nickname when we were seven, and she never stopped calling me that.

"What bring you here, Wise Girl?" I asked.

"Just that if you don't want to be pulverize tonight, you better stay in a safe position… like the right flank, for instance."

"Gee, thanks," I said. "But I'm playing to win, and just because we're friends won't mean I won't use my thermos against you." I patted my magical thermos that has a coating of sea fossils inside that allow me to summon and fired water from between a simple guesser of water to a full on water blast strapped to my belt.

She smiled. "See you on the battle field."

She jogged back to her teammates, who all laughed and gave her high fives. I rolled my eyes. Ever since Annabeth got that laptop she inherit from her hero Daedalus, I rarely see her outside of training and Capture the Flag.

Beckendorf walked up with his helmet under his arm. "She likes you, man."

"Yeah, as a childhood friend and brother," I responded.

"I don't know man. It looks more than that," Beckendorf said. "You ought to ask her to the fireworks."

Even after so many years of knowing Beckendorf, I could never tell when he was serious. Beckendorf was lead counsellor of Hephaestus. He was this huge dude with a permanent scowl, muscles like a pro ballplayer, and hands calloused from working in the forges. He'd just turned eighteen and was his way to NYU in the fall. Since he was older and a good friend, I normally listened to him about stuff, but asking Annabeth to the Fourth of July fireworks down at the beach—like, the biggest dating event of the summer—made my stomach do somersaults.

Plus there was another situation Beckendorf wasn't completely aware about. Before coming the school year ended, I been hanging out with Rachel Elizabeth Dare—a mortal girl who could see through the magical veil known as the Mist—a lot more than usual lately. I wouldn't exactly said we been dating, but rumors had already spread around my school that by our sophomore year of high school (By the way, I did make it through my freshmen year at Goode without being expelled) the two of us will be boyfriend and girlfriend.

Then Silena Beauregard passed by. Beckendrf had had a not-so-secret crush on her for three years. She had long black hair and like her siblings, eyes that changes colors, which right now were big brown, and when she walked, the guys tended t watch. And if you ever need proof that he as a crush on her, she calls Beckendorf by his first name Charles or Charlie, and is the _only_ person he allows to call him that. So it was no surprise when she said, "Good luck, Charlie." She flashed him a brilliant smile and went to join Annabeth on the red team.

"Uh…" Beckendorf swallowed like he'd forgotten how to breathe as I pat him on the shoulder. I guess I shouldn't blame the guy. I met his father, Hephaestus, even did him a favor once in return for information. Let me tell you, the god of forge and fire is not exactly good about socializing with those around him unless you're a cyclopes or an automaton.

…

Naturally, Beckendorf and I took the most dangerous job in the game.

While Apollo cabin played defense with their bows, Hermes cabin would charge up the middle of the woods to distract the enemy. Meanwhile, Beckendorf and I would scout around the left flank, located the enemy flag, knock out the defenders, and get the flag back to our side. Simple. Just incase we failed the rest of Beckendorf's siblings was taking the right.

So why are we taking the left flank?

"Because Annabeth wanted me to go right," I told Beckendorf, "which means she _doesn't_ want us to go left."

Beckendorf nodded. "Let's suit up."

He'd been working on a secret weapon from the two of us—bronze chameleon armor, enchanted to blend into the background. If we stood in front of rocks, our breastplates, helms, and shields turned gray. If we stood in front of bushes, the metal changed to leafy green. It wasn't true invisibility, but we'd have pretty good cover, at least from a distance.

Plus, I don't normally play Capture the Flag with Mrs. O'Leary. As resourceful as it is to ride on a gigantic hellhound's back in the game is, it's only fair to stick to magical items and weapons just like everyone else, which is why I left my hellhound whistle with my stash in Cabin Three.

Although for some reason for this game I brought my control disc I got from one of Hephaestus' prototypes for Talus the Automaton giant. I don't know why, just that I had a feeling I would need it.

"This stuff took forever to forge," Beckendorf warned me. "Don't mess it up!"

"You got it, Captain."

Beckendorf grunted. I could tell he likes being called "captain." The rest of Hephaestus campers wished us well, and we sneak off into the woods, immediately turning brown and green to match the trees.

…

We crossed the creek that served as the boundary between the teams. We heard fighting in the distance—swords clashing against shields. I glimpsed a flash of light from some magical, but we saw no one.

"No border guards?" Beckendorf whispered. "Weird."

"You're right," I responded, "This is too easy."

We moved into enemy territory. I knew we had to hurry, because our team was playing a defensive game, and that couldn't last forever. The Apollo kids would get overrun sooner or later. The Ares cabin wouldn't be slowed down by a little thing like arrows. Not to mention Ares and Apollo cabin been at each other's throat the past few weeks, ever since their last quest so I know if we don't end this game soon, things might get out of hand.

We crept along the base of an oak tree. I almost jumped out of my skin when a dryad emerged from the trunk. "Shoo!" she said, then faded back into the bark.

"Dryads," Beckendorf grumbled. "So touchy."

"Am not!" a muffled voice said from the tree.

We kept moving. It was hard to tell exactly where we were. Some landmarks stood out, like the creek and certain cliffs and some really old trees, but the woods tended to shift around from the nature spirits getting restless. Paths changed. Trees moved.

Then suddenly we were at the edge of a clearing. I knew we were in trouble when I saw the mountain of dirt.

"Holy Hephaestus," Beckendorf whispered. "The Ant Hill."

I wanted to back up and run. This is not your average ant hill—if the size weren't an indicator of it. Mounds like this rise up time to time and they're always four stories at least.

The sides were riddled with tunnels, and crawling in and out were tunnels of Myrmekes, which is ancient Greek for "ants," but these ants were the size of German shepherds. Their armored shells glistened bloodred. Their eyes were beady black, and their razor sharp mandibles slice and snap. Some carried tree branches. Some carried chunk of raw meat that I don't want to know where they got it from. Most carried bits of metal—old armor, swords, food platters that somehow found their way out here from the dining pavilion. One ant was dragging the glossy black hood of a sports car.

See, Myrmekes loves shiny metal, especially gold. There are even rumors going around that they have more gold in their nest than Fort Knox which is tempting for those who are envious for gold.

"Let's get out here while we…" Beckendorf's eyes widened.

Fifty feet away, two ants were struggling to drag a big hunk of metal toward their nest. It was the size of a refrigerator, all glittery gold and bronze, with weird bumps and ridges down the side and a bunch of wires sticking out the bottom. Then the ants rolled the thing over, and I saw a face.

I fought back the urge to jump out of the bushed. "Beckendorf, is that what I think it is?"

"Yes," he said in awe, "A dragon's head."

The snout was as long as my body. The mouth hung open, showing metal shark-like teeth. Its skin was a combination of gold and bronze scales, and its eyes were rubies as big as my fist. The head looked like it had been hacked from its body—chewed by ant mandibles. The wires were frayed and tangled.

The head must've been heavy, too, because the ants were struggling, moving it only a few inches with every tug.

"If they get it to the hill," Beckendorf said, "the other ants will help them. We've got to stop them."

At the time I was confuse what was on, but I never seen Beckendorf looked so determined.

Then I remember an old Camp Half-Blood legend that goes as far back as the civil war. "Beckendorf, you don't think that dragon's head is from the legend, do you?"

Instead of answering me, Beckendorf said, "It's a sign of Hephaestus. I know it."

"Okay," I said, "How about I try and scare them away with my thermos, so you can get it?"

"You think you can scare them off without them calling for their buddies?" Beckendorf asked.

"Not sure, but it's risky to try and get the dragon head from them without getting bitten," I responded, which was true. Myrmekes has a venomous bite that, although won't kill a demigod after some nectar, it would paralyze us long enough for the Myrmekes to soften us up before eating us.

Beckendorf nodded and sprinted along the edge of the clearing to get closer to the dragon's head, as his armor blended into the trees.

Then I reached for my thermos when something sharp and cold press against my neck.

"Surprise," Annabeth said, right next to me. She must've had her magic Yankees cap on, because she was totally invisible.

Silena appeared out of the woods, her sword drawn, wearing her pink and red color coordinated Aphrodite armor.

"Nice work," she told Annabeth.

An invisible hand confiscated my sword and thermos. Annabeth took off her cap and appeared before me, smiling smugly. "Boys are easy to follow. They make more noise than a lovesick Minotaur.

I tried to keep myself from blushing. No telling how long Annabeth and Silena had been eavesdropping.

"Annabeth, this is a bad time!" I said.

"Nice try, Percy. But you're our prisoner," Annabeth said, "And so will Beckendorf once we find him."

"Annabeth would you just look in the clearing!" I responded.

Annabeth didn't but Silena did as she said, "Annabeth…"

Finally Annabeth did look up and for the first time seemed to realize where we were. "Oh, Zeus…"

"Hand me my thermos!" I said.

Annabeth nodded reluctantly and handed it too me. I took aim and with a tugging feeling in my stock, a jet of water fired out of my thermos and struck the Myrmekes, stunning them.

Beckendorf leaped into the open. I ended my attack so Beckendorf could struck of his ants. His sword clanged off the thing's carapace. The ant turned, snapping its pincers. It turn out the ants weren't as stunned as I thought as one of them bit Beckendorf's leg, and he crumpled into the ground.

"No!" I responded as the second ant sprayed go in his face, and Beckendorf screamed. He dropped his sword and slapped wildly at his own eyes.

I surged forward, but Annabeth pulled me back.

"Charlie!" Silena yelled.

"Don't!" Annabeth hissed. "It's already too late!"

I hate to admit it, but Annabeth was right. More ants swarming toward Beckendorf—ten, twenty. They grabbed him by the armor and dragged him toward the hill s fast he was swept into a tunnel and gone.

"No!" Silena pushed Annabeth. "You _let_ them take Charlie."

Annabeth had let me go to argue with Silena and I rushed forward to the dragon's head. I couldn't carry this alone, but I knew we had no chance against the Myrmekes alone, so I prayed we can still use this.

"Annabeth, if we find the rest of the dragon, you think you can activate it?" I asked.

"Maybe—if the control disc is still in tact," Annabeth said.

"What if we use this," I took out my control disc.

"Percy, where did you get that?" Annabeth asked.

"Proto-Talus that guarded Hephaestus' junk yard," I replied. "It wasn't easy to get."

"Would you two stop talking about getting that dragon fix? We need to save Charlie!" Silena yelled.

"Silena, we are going to save Beckendorf," Annabeth responded, "But we need the guardian to do it."

Silena's eyes widened. "You mean that's… the old guardian?"

I guess I should explain about the guardian. Well, you see, before there was Thalia's tree—before the camp had magical boundaries to keep out monsters—the counselors tried all sorts of different ways to protect themselves. The most famous was a bronze automaton dragon. The Hephaestus cabin made it with the blessing of their father. Supposedly it was so fierce it kept the camp safe for over a decade until it disappeared into the woods fifteen years ago. We don't know why. Some think it was because the mtr wore out so it went into the woods to deactivate itself. Or its programming went haywire. No one know. But whatever the cause is related to the control disc, then maybe replacing the control disc will get it back working for our side.

"Beckendorf said this was a sign from his father," I said.

"The only way is to find the body," Annabeth said, "And we better make it quick. We only have half an hour to save Beckendorf."

…

We each grabbed a series of wires and started dragging the dragon head for what seem forever.

It wasn't hard to follow the ants' trail. They'd dragged the dragon's head through the forest, making a deep rut in the mud, and we dragged the head right back the way they'd come. It wasn't until we traveled a quartera mile when we found something.

We'd come to the rim of a crater—like something blasted a house-size hole in the forest floor. The sides were slippery and dotted with tree roots. Ant tracks led to the bottom, where a large metal mound glinted through the dirt, wires stuck up from a bronze stump on one end.

"The dragon's head," I said. "I doubt the myrmedes caused this."

"Me too," Annabeth said.

"Hephaestus," Silena said. "The god must've unearth this. Hephaestus wanted to find the dragon. He wanted Charlie to…" she choked up.

"Let's get this dragon ready," I said.

…

Getting the dragon head to the bottom was easy. It tumbled right down the slope and hit the neck with a loud metallic _BONK_! Reconnecting it was harder.

We had no tools or experience and although Athena is the goddess of inventors, Annabeth didn't know how to connect it, but I believed she will find away.

Meanwhile I was trying to open up the panel to the control disc. It wasn't hard to find it. Unlike Talus, the panel was built in the dragon's head instead of inside it.

"Come on, Lord Hephaestus. Your son is in danger, so help us out," I muttered as I search the dragon's head. Finally I touched something and the panel popped open.

"Thank you Hephaestus!" I said.

Good News: the dragon still had its control disc. Bad news: I might as well replace it. The dragon's control disc was so rusted and in bad shape that I had a feeling that either it won't activate or if by chance it does, it will go berserk.

I removed the control disc and carefully put in Proto-Talus' disc. All at the same time, I couldn't help but thought in agreement that this was some kind of blessing. Me bringing Talus' control disc, Beckendorf and me finding the dragon's head, and now this.

"Okay, Annabeth, the control disc is in place," I said.

"I'm done here too," Annabeth said. "Now turn the dragon's ruby eyes clockwise."

I nodded and turned the dragon's ruby eyes. Immediately, they began to glow. Annabeth and I backed up so fast we fell over each other. The dragon's mouth opened, as if it were testing its jaw. The head turned and looked at us. Steam poured from its ears, and it tried to rise.

When it found it couldn't move, the dragon seemed confused. It cocked its head and regarded the dirt. Finally, it realized it was buried. The neck strained once twice… and the center of the crater erupted.

The dragon pulled itself awkwardly out of the ground, shaking clumps of mud from its body the way a dog might, splattering us from head to toe. The automaton was so awesome, none of us could speak. I mean, sure it needed a trip through the car wash, and there were still a few loose wires sticking out here and there, but the dragon's body was amazing—like a high-tech tank with legs. Its sides were plated with bronze and gold scales, encrusted with gemstones. It had no wings—I guess it was modeled after a Greek Dragon since they don't have wings—but it's tail was at least as long as its main body, which was the size of a school bus. The neck creaked and popped as it turned its head to the sky and blew a column of triumphant fire.

"Amazing," I responded.

The dragon heard me and when those ruby eyes zeroed in on me, and stuck its snout two inches from my face. Something told me it doesn't appreciated my compliment. It also occur to me that proto-Talus' control disc might be not much better than the one I replaced it with considering proto-Talus was in the Junkyard of the Gods.

"Dragon, stop!" Silena yelled with such command that the automaton turned its attention to you.

Silena swallowed nervously. "We've woken you to defend the camp. You remember? That is your job!"

The dragon tilted its head as if it were thinking when Silena continued, "Charles Beckendorf, a son of Hephaestus, is in trouble. The Myrmekes have taken him. He needs your help."

At the word _Hephaestus_ , the dragon's neck straightened. A shiver rippled through its metal body, throwing a new shower of mud clods all over us.

"We have to show it," Annabeth said. "Come on, dragon! This way to the son of Hephaestus! Follow us!"

Just like that, she drew her sword, and the three of us climbed out of the pit. We only had five to ten minutes to save Beckendorf, so I hoped this worked.

"For Hephaestus!" Annabeth yelled, which was a nice touch. We charged through the woods. When I looked behind us, the bronze dragon was right on our tail, its red eyes glowing and steam coming out its nostrils.

It was a good incentive to keep running fast as we headed for the Ant Hill.

…

We got from the crater to the ant hill a lot faster than before since we didn't have to drag a heavy dragon head. When we got to the clearing, the dragon seemed to catch Beckendorf's scent. It barreled ahead of us, and we had to jump out of its way to avoid getting flattened. It crashed through trees, jointing creaking, feet pounding craters into the ground.

It charged straight for the Ant Hill. At first, the Myrmekes didn't know what was happening. The dragon stepped on a few of them, smashing them to bug juice. Then they used their telepathic powers I heard about seemed to start working as al the ants in the clearing turned simultaneously and swarmed the dragon. More ants poured out of the hill—hundreds of them. The dragon blew fire and set a whole column of them into a panic retreat but more kept coming.

"Inside, now!" Annabeth told us. "While they're focus on the dragon!"

Siena led the charge; it was the first time in the years I been in camp that I followed a child of Aphrodite in battle, but I figured that just shows how much Silena cares about Beckendorf.

We ran past the ants, but they ignore us as they saw the dragon as a bigger threat. Honestly, even if the dragon wasn't an automaton, if it was stomping my home like that I would too. Good thing its on our side.

We plunged into the nearest tunnel, and I almost gagged from the stench. Nothing, and I mean nothing, stinks wrse than a giant ant lair. I could tell they let their food rot before eating it. Somebody seriously needed t teach them about refrigerators.

Our journey inside was a blur of dark tunnels and moldy rooms carpeted with old ant shells and pools of goo. Ants surged past us on their way to battle, but we just stepped aside and let them pass. The faint bronze glow of my sword gave us light as we made our way deeper to the nest.

"Look!" Annabeth said.

I glanced into a side room and my heart skipped a beat. Hanging from the ceiling were huge, gooey sacks—ant larvae—but that's not what got my attention. The cave floor was heaped with gold coins, gems, and other treasures—helmets, swords, musical instruments, jewelry. They glowed the way magic items do.

"This isn't lately, they been doing this for a while," Annabeth said.

"It explains why a lot of our stuff been disappearing," I said.

Ever since this morning there were a drop of number of weapons and armor. At first we thought it was some kind of prank by the Stoll Brothers, or maybe Kronos still has some demigods in camp transporting weapons to the Titan army. But I guess the Myrmekes makes more sense.

"It's not important," Silena insisted. "We have to find Charlie."

Good thing none of Silena's siblings were here. If they were, they would go for the jewelry.

We forged on. After twenty more feet, we entered a cavern that smelled so bad my nose shut down completely. The remains of old meals were piled as high as sand dunes—bones, chunks of rancid meat, even old camp meals. Another proof that the Myrmekes been doing this for a while. At the base of one of the heaps, struggling to pull himself upright, was Beckendorf, still wearing his camouflage armor, that was now the color of garbage.

"Charlie!" Silena ran t him and tried to help him off.

"Thank the gods," he said. "My—my legs are paralyzed!"

"It'll wear off," Annabeth said. "But we have to get out of here. Percy take his other side."

Silena and I hoisted Beckendorf up, and the four of us started back through the tunnels. I could hear distant sounds of battle—metal creaking, fire roaring, hundreds of ants snapping and spitting.

"What's going on out there?" Beckendorf asked. His body tensed. "The dragon! You didn't reactivated it?"

"Afraid so," I said. "I even replaced its rusty old control disc."

"But you can't just turn on an automaton! You have to calibrate the motor, run diagnostics and… wait did you say you replaced the control disc?" Beckendorf asked. "Where did you get a control disc?"

"A proto-Talus, long story," I replied, "The dragon's original control disc was rusty, probably from all the years deactivated."

"Still, it's very risky," Beckendorf said. "There's no telling what it's doing. We've got to get out there!"

As it turned out, we didn't need to go anywhere, because the dragon came to us. We were trying to remember which tunnel was the exit when the entire hill exploded, showering us in dirt. Suddenly we were staring at open sky. The dragon was right above us, thrashing back and forth, smashing the Ant Hillto bits as it tried to shake off the Myrmekes crawling all over its body.

"Come on!" I yelled. We dug ourselves out of the dirt and stumbled down the side of the hill, dragging Beckendorf with us.

Our friend the dragon was in trouble. The Myrmekes were biting at the joints of its arms, spitting acid all over it. The dragon stomped and snapped and blew flames, but it couldn't last much longer. Steam was rising from its bronze skin.

Even worse, a few of the ants turned toward us. I guess they didn't like us stealing their dinner. I slashed at one and lopped off its head. Annabeth stabbed another right between the feelers. As the celestial bronze blade piece its shell, the whole ant disintegrated.

"I—I think I can walk now," Beckendorf said, and immediately fell on his face when we let go of him.

"Charlie!" Silena helped him up and pulled him along while Annabeth and I cleared a path through the ants. Somehow we manage to reach the edge of the clearing without getting bitten or squashed, although one of my sneaker s was smoking from acid.

Back in the clearing the dragon stumbled. A great cloud of acid smoke rolling off its hide.

"Get ready to run!" Beckendorf told us before yelling at the dragon, "DRAGON! Emergency defense, beta-ACTIVATE!"

The droagon turned toward the sound of his vice. It stopped struggling against the ants, and its eyes glowed. The air smelled of ozone, like a thunderstorm,

 _ZZZZZAAAAAPPPPP!_

Archs of blue electricity shot from the dragon's skin rippling down its body and connecting with the ants. Some of the ants exploded. Others smoked and blackened, their legs twitching. In a few seconds there were no more ants on the dragon. The ones that were still alive were in full retreat, scuttling back toward their ruined hill as fingers of electricity zapped them in the butt to prod them along.

The dragon bellowed in triumph, then turned its glowing eyes toward us.

"Now," Beckendorf said. "we run."

We did run for cover, but the dragon didn't attack instead it seemed calm. In fact it just stood there looking at the direction Silena and Beckendorf went.

"I don't think it's attacking us," Annabeth said.

That's when it dawn to me. Before, when I thought the dragon was going to attack us. It was because although we reactivated it, Silena Annabeth and I weren't children of Hephaestus.

Beckendorf must have realized something like that as well because he staggered forward.

The dragon stared at him waiting for command.

"Dragon! Shut down!" Beckendorf said.

The dragon looked at Beckendorf before laying down. Next thing we knew the eyes dimed and calm down.

"It seems that control disc you added, Percy, actually worked," Beckendorf said.

"That's good, right?" I asked.

"Maybe…" Beckendorf said, "But I'm still going to have to check it over to make sure there aren't any flaws. Percy, do you still have its control disc?"

"Right here," I said handing him the rusty disc.

Beckendorf checked it over. I guess he was going to keep it to help with the diagnostics, because he stuffed it in his pocket.

Silena ran up to Beckendorf and gave him a hug along with a kiss on the cheek. "I'm glad you're alive, Charlie."

Beckendorf swallowed. "Um… well. So… will you go to the fire works with me?"

It was hard to tell with Beckendorf's face being red from the ant acid in the face earlier, but I could have sworn he was blushing.

Silena's face lit up. "Of couse, you big dummy! I thought you'd never asked.

Beckendorf suddenly looked a whole lot better.

"We better get back," I said, "The game should be over."

"What about the treasure down there," Beckendorf said, "All those magical weapons and armor. We could use that."

"And the bracelets, and the necklaces," Silena said. Well, Silena is back to normal.

"Maybe another time," I said. "We'll need an army of demigods to get it back from those ants."

No one argued against that.

…

I had to go barefoot, because the acid had eaten completely through my shoe. When I kicked it off I realized the goo had soaked into my sock and turned my foot red and raw. Nothing I couldn't heal with a small jet of water from my thermos.

Beckendorf and Silena walked ahead off ahead of us, holding hands, and Annabeth and I gave them space.

"That was pretty lucky," Annabeth said, "With the control disc and everything."

"That's for sure," I responded. "I guess Silena and Charles are going to the fireworks."

"I guess so," Annabeth agreed.

Just then, three of Annabeth's siblings from Athena cabin burst out of the bushes with their swords drawn. When they saw us they broke grins.

"Annabeth!" one of them said. "Good job! Let's get these two to jail.

"Wait the game isn't over?" I asked.

The Athena camper laughed. "Not yet… but soon. Now we captured _you_."

"Dude, come on," Beckendorf protested. We got sidetracked. There was a dragon, and the whole Ant Hill was attacking us."

"Uh-huh," said another Athena guy, clearly unimpressed. "Annabeth, great job distracting them. Work out perfectly. You want us to take them from here?"

I guess finding out the game wasn't over brought back Annabeth's competitive nature because she quickly grabbed my thermos.

"Oh come on! Again with my thermos," I responded.

"Sorry Percy, but even I know better than to leave your thermos within your reach," Annabeth said taking out her dagger and pointed it at me as she turned to her siblings. "Silena and I can get this. Come on, prisoners. Move it."

I doubt she planned the dragon and the Myrmekes, but something told me Annabeth planned for this incase the game wasn't over. Still, that didn't stop me from complaining and protesting all the way to the jail, and so did Beckendorf considering what we went though as Silena laughed.

But Annabeth just smiled and put us in jail. As she was heading back to the front line, she turned and winked at me. "See you at the fireworks?"

She didn't even waited for my answer before darting off into the woods. I looked at Beckendorf. "Did she just… ask me out?"

He shrugged, completely disgusted. "Who knows with girls? Give me a automaton dragon anyday."

So we sat together and waited while the girls won the game as I wrapped my mind around what just happened.


End file.
